


as if we wished on the same star

by worry



Category: Best Friends Whenever (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, background Cyd/Shelby, i failed 9th grade science, inaccurate science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-28 08:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7633861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worry/pseuds/worry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naldo Montoya knows everything. </p><p>  <i>Everything.</i></p><p>Except, apparently, the fact that his two best friends have suddenly upgraded their friendship and they're now Best Friends That Make Out With Each Other Passionately When They Think No One Can See Them.</p><p>There's probably a word for that, but Naldo can't remember what it is.</p><p>(Or: Naldo sees Cyd and Shelby kissing and gets an idea.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	as if we wished on the same star

Naldo Montoya knows everything.

 

_Everything._

 

Here’s a list of things that he knows:

 

  1. He knows how to tie his shoes, because Barry taught him when they were young.
  2. He knows how to zip his jacket up, because it was _so hard_ and Barry taught him. Two weeks ago. He took Naldo’s hands in his own and showed him how to zip – it was more intimate than it needed to be. Or: Naldo _perceived_ it as intimate. Barry says that his perception can sometimes be “completely off”.
  3. He knows how to do science! He knows how to blow stuff up and he knows how to set things on fire and he knows how to make Barry say things like, “Renaldo, what are you doing?” “Renaldo, stop doing that, or you’re going to blow up the lab.” And, his personal favorite, “Renaldo, _run._ ”



 

(It’s always been Barry, see. It has _always_ been Barry.)

 

He knows everything.

 

_Everything._

Except, apparently, the fact that his two best friends have suddenly upgraded their friendship and they're now Best Friends That Make Out With Each Other Passionately When They Think No One Can See Them.

 

There's probably a word for that, but Naldo can't remember what it is.

 

Oh, now there’s a super scientific explanation for it all: it’s always been Barry, since the beginning, and finally Naldo understands what he feels. He wants to be kissing friends with Barry. He wants to upgrade their friendship and do that thing that Cyd and Shelby are doing.

 

This is probably the best thing that has ever happened to him.

 

* * *

 

 

Here’s another super scientific thing: he can’t just _go up_ to Barry and kiss him. Something tells him that it would not end well – something deep inside of him that’s either intuition or the three-week-old burrito that he found on the lab floor and decided to eat. Well. He _hopes_ that it was a burrito. Regardless, it was delicious, and—

 

Right, back to the science. He can’t just walk up to Barry and kiss him. He has to do an experiment. All good scientists do experiments.

 

Barry has told him everything he needs to know about experiments. First, he said, you need a hypothesis. An if-then statement, something you want to know the answer to. You propose the hypothesis and then test it. There are a few things in-between those steps that you probably need to do for best results, but Naldo forgot them. He forgot them, which had absolutely _nothing_ to do with the fact that Barry was explaining the “scientific process” while he was standing _so close_ to him and…

 

Science.

 

In this case, the hypothesis is: If he kisses Barry, then Barry will freak out.

 

Probably not _,_ because Barry and Naldo have been best friends _forever_ and so have Cyd and Shelby, and they can kiss without freaking out. Barry and Naldo should be able to do it, too.

 

Still. That thing inside of him – the half-burrito, half-emotion thing – says that there’s something weird about it. They’re friends! They can kiss without it being weird. They can make out, hold hands, embrace each other, get married… all without it being weird.

 

He has to run this experiment, because he’s only 99.9% sure that Barry won’t freak out. That decimal is worrying. That decimal is, obviously, enough of a probability to cause concern. What if Barry freaks out? What if Barry pushes him away?

 

It’s for science.

 

After the hypothesis is made, the next step, from what he remembers, is research. Before he can test the hypothesis – which he’ll figure out the details of later – he has to research the topic.

 

The most obvious way to research something like this is to ask Barry a series of incredibly intrusive and personal questions.

 

“Hey, Barry,” he says, tapping his fingers on the table because he isn’t nervous at all.

 

“Yeah?” Barry asks absentmindedly as he types something into his laptop. He doesn’t even look up. _It’s now or never._

“Have you ever, um…”

 

There’s a long pause that Barry doesn’t seem to notice.

 

“Like, have you… you know…”

 

Another pause. Barry isn’t paying attention.

 

_It’s now or never._

“Had a… you know. Liked a… person. In _that_ way.”

 

“Are you serious?” he laughs. “Renaldo, we’re best friends. If I did like someone, trust me, you’d be the first one to know.”

 

Wait.

 

What is he doing?

 

He doesn’t like Barry in That Way. They’re friends. They’re best friends and that’s _all_.

 

“Right,” he nods. “And so, I’ve got this friend, and he – I mean, _she_ – wanted to know what would make you want to kiss someone.”

 

Barry looks up.

 

He closes his laptop slowly.

 

“Why are you asking me this?”

 

“Because my very real friend who is female and a girl wanted to know.”

 

Barry’s eyebrows raise and fall. “Okay,” he says, “well, first I’d have to know this… person. I’d have to know them really well – I don’t know if you know this, but you can’t just kiss someone that you don’t know. Or, I guess you _could,_ theoretically, but I personally wouldn’t.”

 

Okay, this is good. Barry knows him. They’re best friends.

 

“And?”

 

“And we’d have to have similar interests, I guess. I mean, how can you date someone if you don’t have anything in common?”

 

Barry and Naldo have similar interests, _Everything_ about them is similar. Similar, yet different – this is exactly why they make such a great team.

 

The only problem is that he doesn’t want to date Barry.

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“We’d have to spend a lot of time alone together.”

 

Naldo can’t really think of a time that he was away from Barry for more than a few minutes. This is good.

 

“And, finally, they’d have to be your friend, too. I can’t be with anyone who doesn’t like you.”

 

...Maybe he _does_ want to date Barry. Something inside of him is fluttering, and it definitely isn’t the sickness from eating week-old food.

 

It’s always been Barry. It’s _always_ been Barry, and he wants to date Barry. Okay. Okay, this is – okay. It makes a lot of sense.

 

Naldo smiles.

 

“So, anyway, really, why do you ask?”

 

“I saw that Shelby and Cyd were kissing and I thought that it was really cool, you know, how they’re such good friends that they can kiss without it being weird.”

 

“Wait, what?” Barry asks. “Renaldo… Shelby and Cyd are dating.”

 

Naldo nods. “That makes sense.”

 

“Did you really think that they were kissing _platonically?_ ”

 

“No, totally not. What? That’s ridiculous.”

 

Barry shakes his head. “What do Shelby and Cyd have to do with—”

 

For a man of science, Barry is having a really hard time understanding the fact that yes, his best friend definitely wants to kiss him, and yes, his best friend definitely likes him. In _that way._

 

“Oh,” he says finally. “ _Oh._ ”

 

“Yeah,” Naldo says. “Sorry. I’m sorry, I…”

 

He stands up and runs out of the lab – he’s admittedly not good at science like Barry is, but he knows that he messed the experiment up. Was it ever an _experiment?_ Was it just Naldo’s pathetic attempt to make himself look like a good scientist? The kind of scientist that Barry would be proud of? Was it just Naldo trying to prove to himself that he only has platonic feelings for his best friend?

 

It doesn’t matter. He failed the experiment. He didn’t even _start_ the experiment.

 

He’s not good at science. He only knows how to tie his shoes and zip up his jacket and accidentally set Barry’s science equipment on fire.

“Wait,” Barry calls. He pokes his head out of the RV. “I’m not mad.”

 

Naldo’s still standing outside of the lab, not sure where to go; he can’t go to Shelby and Cyd, because they’d ask _questions._ He can’t go home. He can’t go _anywhere,_ because everything that he does, he does with Barry. In essence, he’s stuck. Frozen in position. All that he can do now is endure.

 

“You’re not mad?”

 

“I’m not mad,” Barry says. “It’s completely normal to develop feelings for your friends. I’m…. guilty of it myself.”

 

“Oh,” Naldo says, because of _course_ he likes someone else. Of course. “Who is it? Do I know them?”

 

Barry looks at him for a moment. Blinks. “Seriously?”

 

“Seriously what? So I take it that I _don’t_ know them?”

 

“It’s _you._ ”

 

“What’s me?”

 

He stops. It takes a few seconds for it to compute.

 

“Oh,” he says. “ _Oh._ ”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So…”

 

“ _So._ ”

 

“What does this mean?” Naldo asks.

 

“I think,” Barry says, “that you know what it means.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'M SORRY THIS IS SO BAD BUT I WROTE IT AT 1AM SO
> 
> Also thanks to Fay for giving me the title! <3


End file.
